A Time of Amazing Grace

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    Our Lady, under the title of our Lady of Perpetual Help, is central to every Redemptorist. We do not spare any opportunity to make her known wherever we are present. This is true of the members of Alphonse Bhavan, Edoor.

    The last fortnight of January was a time of blessing for us. We celebrated the feast of OLPS on 1 February 2020, preceded by a solemn 9-days-novena. We, the whole community, were looking enthusiastically to celebrate this feast. Every celebration needs proper planning and preparation, and ours was not an exception. Every member of the community contributed to the success of the celebration.

    This feast was indispensable to the people around this monastery. The neighbourhood took up this feast as their own. They enquired about the preparations well in advance. Much before the actual novena, some volunteers came forward and decorated the Grotto, the courtyard and its surroundings. The novena was from 23 – 31 January, 2020. The Rector, Fr. Tomy Kizhakkethundathil, C.Ss.R. hoisted the flag of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on the first day of the novena. The novena celebrations comprised of the recitation of the Holy Rosary, a solemn Qurbana, the Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help and concluded with the Benediction. The celebrations were led by a few Redemptorists and other priests from our neighbouring Parishes. Fr. Sijo Thaliyath, C.Ss.R., the former Rector of this community, presided over the festal celebrations on the last day. We had a solemn procession, to the Grotto, soon after the Holy Qurbana. At the end of the celebrations we enjoyed the delicious food prepared by the people of the locality. All those gathered left with the promise, to come together again, to celebrate the feast, same time next year. This was indeed a memorable time of Amazing Grace.

    Fr. Tomy Kizhakkethundathil, CSsR